Teen To Be Under House Arrest

Murder Trial To Be In Middlesex In Fall

MIDDLESEX — A Middlesex teen-ager accused of murder will stay locked up until Sept. 8, then be under house arrest with his family until his October trial, a circuit judge ruled Friday.

Kenneth Tyler Bushong, 16, known as Tyler, is charged with killing a 20-year-old man with a pocketknife March 13.

Scott J. Atwell, a construction worker originally from Wisconsin, died after an altercation at a party at his home in Piankatank Shores.

Witnesses at Bushong's preliminary hearing in June said a fight broke out after Atwell refused to let a female guest and a boyfriend use a bedroom. During the melee, Atwell and Bushong struggled on the ground, and Atwell was stabbed in the chest, witnesses said.

Bushong, who was 15 at the time, has been held at Merrimac Center juvenile detention facility in Williamsburg since his arrest.

The teen-ager, wearing a tie his mother brought to him, did not testify during a hearing to determine if he was eligible for bond.

His attorney, James C. Breeden, said Bushong has done well at Merrimac, but it would be more convenient for the teen-ager to be in Middlesex to help prepare for his trial, which is scheduled for Oct. 6 and 7.

Bushong misses his mother and younger siblings, too, Breeden said, adding ``He'd like to be home for a while.''

``A lot of people incarcerated today would like to go home - probably a hundred percent of them,'' retorted Commonwealth's Attorney James H. Ward Jr.

Bushong's records from Middlesex County schools and Hopesville Christian Academy, a private school in Gloucester, revealed disciplinary and attendance problems and a lack of respect for authority, said Ward.

Ward said Bushong, ``a classic case of a youth with no structured environment,'' should remain at Merrimac because he has done better there.

However, Judge William H. Shaw III said the law compelled him to set bond because there is no reason to believe Bushong would flee before the trial or would be a threat to his or other people's safety.

Also, Bushong has not been convicted of a drug crime or a violent felony, another measure in deciding who is eligible for bond, said the judge.

Robert J. Sowell, a probation officer with the Department of Juvenile Justice, testified Bushong previously was found guilty of trespassing and petty larceny.

Shaw set bond at $50,000. He will stay at Merrimac until he goes under house arrest Sept. 8. He must meet eligibility requirements of the Middle Peninsula Regional Security Center, which would monitor him with an electronic ankle bracelet, the judge said.

Breeden said Bushong would be under his mother's or father's supervision at all times.

As a further condition of the release, the judge said Bushong must not contact witnesses except with his lawyer present.

``I know there have been threats against two of the witnesses not to testify,'' said Ward, but he said he was not saying that Bushong made the threats.

Breeden said he plans to argue that the killing was in self-defense.

- Tina McCloud can be reached at (804) 642-1746 or tmccloud@dailypress.com